Mark | Poker Articles, Poker Strategy, Poker Tournament
This article belongs to the Poker Strategy series.
Lately I have given a lot of thought to the notion of formulating an optimal strategy for playing low stakes MTT online tournaments. I’m pretty sure I don’t have it nailed down yet, but I want to share what I have come up with so far. Maybe you have some ideas of your own to add to mine? Before I start I would like to share one of the most important things I have come to realize lately when it comes to optimizing your chances of winning an online poker tournament:
Don’t expect to win if you don’t have the time and attention to invest in the tournament.
I myself have a tendency to run poker tournaments in the background when I write articles for my blogs or do work on my websites. Truth be told neither my work or my poker tournament results benefit from this. If you want to win tournaments force yourself to focus on the the action taking place on your table also when you are not involved in hands. Playing more tournaments at the same time could help you to prevent your mind from drifting.
Playing low stakes MTT online poker tournaments before the 1st break:
- Many of your opponents in this stage of the tournament will be paying most attention to their own cards and not so much on what kind of hands their opponents might have. They will more often call raises with medium hands such as AQ, AJ, 99 etc than re-raising them. If they hit top pair they will seldom fold. As a consequence trying to bluff them out of a pot with fancy play seldom pays off.
- You will see a lot of call – raise – call action in the beginning of low stakes poker tournaments meaning that you will rarely win pots through pre flop raises. This means that if you decide to try to pick up a pot through bluffing you need to be prepared to follow through post flop. Suited connectors are good hands to do this with as they need to see a flop to improve and are well disguised if you open them with a pre flop raise.
- When you get dealt premium hands raise them to 5-6BBs to isolate the field.
- If your starting stack is 1500 and you haven’t doubled by the time the blinds have reached 50/100 you should start taking risks and stop calling drawing hands; if you think a hand is good enough to call it is good enough to raise. Keep in mind that the chances taken early in a tournament, if payed off, mean that you won’t have to take as many risks later.
- Don’t go all in unless you feel confident that your opponent will fold his hand or call with a worse hand than you own
- Set as a goal to triple your stack before the 1st break.
Playing low stakes MTT online poker tournaments after the 1st break:
- The quality of your opposition will now have increased and some of your opponents are now considering your possible hands as well as their own. This opens up opportunities for stealing pots through bluffs but also means that you have to deal with opponents pulling the same moves on you. At this stage in the tournament being able to classify your opponents will improve the chances of your bluffs being successful.
- Have a plan and a purpose for every hand you play
- Loosen up your starting hand requirements and start raising more often. Since the blinds have now grown to represent a higher fraction of the average chip stack, 3xBB raises are usually sufficient. Your aim is to pick up as many pots as possible while risking as little of your stack as possible. This approach is known as small ball poker.
- Set as a goal to stay above the average stack size for the tournament.
Playing the late stages of a low stakes MTT online poker tournament:
- Turn up your aggression a couple of notches loosening up your starting hand requirements and raising often aiming to pick up the blinds.
- As Mitchell Cogert would say: Embrace the risk. You have to be brave and fearless to end up standing as the winner of any kind of poker tournament.
You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.
Similar Posts:
1 Comment to Thoughts on how to beat low stakes MTT online tournaments
Nice poker article Not sure about the baseball too much common knowledge. Check out my poker blog tho i like urs.
Dealz’s last blog post..July 21st
Leave a comment
Special promotions
Latest Poker Strategy Articles
-
What are the payment methods with the smallest fees
-
Becoming a winner at online slots: Dos and Don’ts
-
4 Reasons to Use Apps for Bankroll Management
-
Biggest Poker Wins Of All Time
-
4 Best Tips on Choosing the Best Non-Gamstop Casino
-
Best Ways To Get Better At Online Poker
-
The History of Poker
-
Amazing Ways of Maintaining a Poker Face
-
Benefits of Playing Online Poker
-
Tips for better Texas Hold’em Play
-
TV Shows and Online Casinos – What’s the Connection?
-
How did Eelis Pärssinen build his poker bankroll?
-
5 Interesting Facts About Online Poker
-
Poker Players Should Not Gamble at The Felt – Get That Release Elsewhere
-
Why You Should Join a Poker Loyalty Scheme
-
A Novice Go-Getter’s Guide to Selecting the Best Online Gambling Website
-
Reviewing the Latest Online Slot, Hellcatraz
-
What Is the Legal Gambling Age in Different Countries
-
Best Things to Buy with 5 Pounds
-
The Beauty of Poker Games
-
Top Finnish Pro Poker Players
-
Slots versus Video Poker: What is the difference?
-
Poker Bankroll Guide – How to Boost and Keep Your Bankroll
-
Biggest Online Slot Trends Of 2020
-
Discover how poker redesigns your brain to improve it
-
How To Win On Online Casinos With Free Spins
-
Beating the House – Is it Possible to Win at Online Casinos?
-
What to Look for in an Online Casino
-
Developing a winning poker strategy
-
Top 4 Simple Ways to Choose a Trustworthy New Online Casino
July 21, 2009